bibliobabe94's review against another edition
4.0
Great second entry in the series. Love where this is going.
srlemons42's review against another edition
3.0
......
....sigh.
SO, Codex Born is the second in Jim C. Hines Magic Ex Libris series and it follows main character Isaac Vainio and his main girl Lena Greenwood a dryad pulled from a book herself and discarded. And in an interesting "twist" Lena's other significant other psychiatrist Nidhi Shah joins in on the fun.
The action centers on the discovery of an organization thought to have been wiped out more than five centuries ago by Gutenberg himself. They have strong magic of their own and almost destroy all the characters several times, culminating in a battle in a small town that does kill a lot of people.
I felt that the end of the book, and really the book as a whole was more of the same. Isaac as a character is pretty engaging. He struggles with his place in the Porters and their history of wiping out rivals, and he has a relatively strong relationship with Lena.
I'm going to say right now that I just couldn't care about their relationship. I find it Boring with a capital B. It is super refreshing that a different form (type?) of relationship is explored. I would love more books where so called "alternative" relationship types are explored. Unfortunately I feel nothing for any of the people in this relationship.
I like Isaac in a generic "he's the main character" kind of way and am mildly interested in his story outside of this relationship. Lena has always bored me. She shows up and kicks ass, then doesn't, then does some more. I find her tiring. If you connect with her, awesome I'm glad since I can't adequately explain why I find her dull. Nidhi Shah? I feel she barely has any character at all to care about. She seems mildly uncomfortable with Lena and Isaac's relationship....kinda....i guess? I never really got the sense of her, she is just a big flat nothing character.
The plot of the book itself is pretty interesting. It moves along at a good clip and I did get wrapped up in the mysteries by the middle of the book. I'm trying not to spoil too much of the plot, but it was pretty engaging.
I think overall I would recommend this series. I still love the magic system and that the main character is a librarian. I will probably even continue on with the rest of the series.
....sigh.
SO, Codex Born is the second in Jim C. Hines Magic Ex Libris series and it follows main character Isaac Vainio and his main girl Lena Greenwood a dryad pulled from a book herself and discarded. And in an interesting "twist" Lena's other significant other psychiatrist Nidhi Shah joins in on the fun.
The action centers on the discovery of an organization thought to have been wiped out more than five centuries ago by Gutenberg himself. They have strong magic of their own and almost destroy all the characters several times, culminating in a battle in a small town that does kill a lot of people.
I felt that the end of the book, and really the book as a whole was more of the same. Isaac as a character is pretty engaging. He struggles with his place in the Porters and their history of wiping out rivals, and he has a relatively strong relationship with Lena.
I'm going to say right now that I just couldn't care about their relationship. I find it Boring with a capital B. It is super refreshing that a different form (type?) of relationship is explored. I would love more books where so called "alternative" relationship types are explored. Unfortunately I feel nothing for any of the people in this relationship.
I like Isaac in a generic "he's the main character" kind of way and am mildly interested in his story outside of this relationship. Lena has always bored me. She shows up and kicks ass, then doesn't, then does some more. I find her tiring. If you connect with her, awesome I'm glad since I can't adequately explain why I find her dull. Nidhi Shah? I feel she barely has any character at all to care about. She seems mildly uncomfortable with Lena and Isaac's relationship....kinda....i guess? I never really got the sense of her, she is just a big flat nothing character.
The plot of the book itself is pretty interesting. It moves along at a good clip and I did get wrapped up in the mysteries by the middle of the book. I'm trying not to spoil too much of the plot, but it was pretty engaging.
I think overall I would recommend this series. I still love the magic system and that the main character is a librarian. I will probably even continue on with the rest of the series.
travelgirlut's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bit more serious than the first one, but still just as interesting and fun. I'm just going to continue right on with the next one!
levanmatthew's review against another edition
3.0
Perfectly cromulent. Lots of inside jokes for SciFi and fantasy nerds and maybe a little smug about it, but that's right up my alley.
karak's review against another edition
4.0
Good, but not as good as Libromancer. It pales in comparison to Libromancer, but still outshines much of the comparable books in the genre.
amyiw's review against another edition
2.0
This was a 1st POV changing POV between Isaak and Lena.
This was a disappointment after the first book though some of the problems with the first book are still present here and take away from the story line. The multiple lines of thought and the incohesiveness of plot, along with an epilogue ending that completely makes the plot a cliffhanger. Ok a lot of it was in the air after the final battle and argument with Gutenberg but... it had a direction and what Isaak battled was finished. Then we find that the battle didn't complete the story. Oh well, piss me off. Since the book was only a OK/ good, it went to OK maybe.
The good
1- I actually liked Lena's POV and seeing her growth from not understanding to self awareness. It was a story inside the main plot.
2- Some of the book references and solutions were quite fun. Alice in Wonderland's pill, loved that.
3- The world is better built with a little better restrictions to Libriomancy
The Bad
1- Much of the book references were boring and drawn out.
2- The plot went all over the place and some of the book explanations took away from the understanding of what the hell was happening instead of defining it.
3- Too many bad guys switching and being controlled, I guess this could be the plot going all over the place.
4- The ending of Gutenberg not doing what he does, is not explained and I was just left baffled. I get that he had a connection but... It was just another dizzying scene that had no context to hold it in the story that we had started to understand. So the ending battle was baffling.
5- Pretty much as soon as you got what was happening in the plot, who was doing what for why, always very convoluted, it would change and we would get another convoluted change of who was bad and why. This happening at least 4 times, starting with the windigo, and going to Gutenberg. in between.
6- A lot of this is repeat from the first book. We get a little more of the magical constraints but some of the things pulled out of the books makes me think they are easily over come. Isaak is confronted with a magical conflict of world altering consequence. He gives his all and is even willing to sacrifice himself. He looses himself in the book a couple of times only to be saved (like the first book) and we find more of the horrors of Gutenberg. All very similar to the first book.
7- Instead of Isaak being given a position to help like the end of the first, we are left up in the air about what Isaak will be able to do. A cliffhanger of sorts. In fact much of the ending is a cliffhanger of sorts. Yes, they beat back the baddie but... the epilogue kind of kills a clean wrap up there. And all the other little open lines, cliffies as I call them, not quite a cliffhanger but a small one. So too many loose ends and one that really makes it a cliffhanger.
So I like little parts of this but was really disappointed in the end. I will struggle with deciding to read on. Since when authors have a cliffhanger on their second book in a series, they tend to continue this pattern and I don't want to be strung along.
This was a disappointment after the first book though some of the problems with the first book are still present here and take away from the story line. The multiple lines of thought and the incohesiveness of plot, along with an epilogue ending that completely makes the plot a cliffhanger. Ok a lot of it was in the air after the final battle and argument with Gutenberg but... it had a direction and what Isaak battled was finished. Then
Spoiler
one of the bugs gets into the girl intern. I thought the Queen was destroyed? The end, nope.The good
1- I actually liked Lena's POV and seeing her growth from not understanding to self awareness. It was a story inside the main plot.
2- Some of the book references and solutions were quite fun. Alice in Wonderland's pill, loved that.
3- The world is better built with a little better restrictions to Libriomancy
The Bad
1- Much of the book references were boring and drawn out.
2- The plot went all over the place and some of the book explanations took away from the understanding of what the hell was happening instead of defining it.
3- Too many bad guys switching and being controlled, I guess this could be the plot going all over the place.
4- The ending of Gutenberg not doing what he does, is not explained and I was just left baffled. I get that he had a connection but... It was just another dizzying scene that had no context to hold it in the story that we had started to understand. So the ending battle was baffling.
5- Pretty much as soon as you got what was happening in the plot, who was doing what for why, always very convoluted, it would change and we would get another convoluted change of who was bad and why. This happening at least 4 times, starting with the windigo, and going to Gutenberg. in between.
6- A lot of this is repeat from the first book. We get a little more of the magical constraints but some of the things pulled out of the books makes me think they are easily over come. Isaak is confronted with a magical conflict of world altering consequence. He gives his all and is even willing to sacrifice himself. He looses himself in the book a couple of times only to be saved (like the first book) and we find more of the horrors of Gutenberg. All very similar to the first book.
7- Instead of Isaak being given a position to help like the end of the first, we are left up in the air about what Isaak will be able to do. A cliffhanger of sorts. In fact much of the ending is a cliffhanger of sorts. Yes, they beat back the baddie but... the epilogue kind of kills a clean wrap up there. And all the other little open lines, cliffies as I call them, not quite a cliffhanger but a small one.
Spoiler
Isaak is left with out the memory of the name, what is that about? Gutenberg was unable to take his memories, why? They killed the Queen yet and bug infects Jenetta, how? What happens to Bi Wei and Bi She ng? The Wendigo? Isaak's magic being taken? Gutenberg still has the Porters and they follow him, why? Did he remove memories? Why doesn't Isaak start spelling out to those that will listen.So I like little parts of this but was really disappointed in the end. I will struggle with deciding to read on. Since when authors have a cliffhanger on their second book in a series, they tend to continue this pattern and I don't want to be strung along.
choirqueer's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the first book, Libriomancer, SO INCREDIBLY MUCH that I was kind of nervous about reading this book because I wasn't sure that ANYTHING could be as good as that first book was. Unfortunately, this sequel just didn't measure up to the first one. The things I loved about the first book -- the magical ability of libriomancy, the brilliant intra-plot surprises, the riveting character development, the exquisite pacing of the unfolding narrative -- just didn't happen in this one. I'll probably still read the next one to see if there's any chance it will be as good as that first one; I know there's more story to be told here!
sheltzer's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like this is a bridge book between the first and third. I liked it, but not as much as I liked the first one.
ellimister's review against another edition
2.0
Goodreads, I don't know what you did, but you took away my "I'm finished" option and you've also done away with some of my comments for this book. I don't know why or what you did but I'd like them back please.
bookwyrm_lark's review against another edition
5.0
Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.
Codex Born picks up a few months after the end of Libriomancer, and like its predecessor, it's a marvelous adventure for book-lovers and fantasy-lovers alike. There's plenty of action, suspense, and intrigue in this novel, but it's a little slower-paced than Libriomancer, which leaves more room for reflection: on Isaac's part, on Lena's part, and on the reader's part.
This is not a bad thing. I needed a chance to catch my breath after Libriomancer, an opportunity to slow down and absorb more of the implications than I picked up on the first reading. I don't want to spoil the first book for you if you haven't read it (but why haven't you? Go check out my review, and run out and get a copy this instant!) So I'll just say that Libriomancer left me with a number of questions about what is really going on. I was sure that we didn't yet know all the truth about Gutenberg, the Porters, and the history of libriomancy, and there were hints -- more than hints -- about a larger problem to come.
In Codex Born, we do find out more about Gutenberg's past and the magical threat he's trying to ward against, but we're still left with questions -- lots of them. There's more ambiguity in this book, and many more shades of grey. (Not in that sense!) It's not at all clear who is on the side of the angels and who is a villain or even, at times, who is allied with whom.
Ambiguity and complex relationships are among Jim Hine's strengths as a writer. He writes all his characters with respect, making it possible to sympathize even with the villains at times. He's also particularly good at making the reader think and question their assumptions. He's developed the perfect vehicle for this in the character of Lena Greenwood. A dryad accidentally born into this world via an acorn pulled from an appallingly bad erotic SF/F novel (one which thankfully does not actually exist), Lena's nature is to adapt to become her lover's fantasy woman -- to change, quite literally, to please someone else. How does a sentient, intelligent person cope with that level of objectification and lack of agency? Lena's desire to maintain a separate, distinct identity leads her, at the end of Libriomancer, to a unique and not entirely comfortable solution. Hines doesn't shy away from the ramifications in Codex Born, leading to more than a few thought-provoking moments.
We also learn more about Lena's life before Libriomancer; her memories serve as the introduction to each chapter. Although the chapters themselves are narrated by Isaac, the inclusion of Lena's memories (the purpose of which becomes clear at the end of the novel) allows us to know and understand her far better than we could through his narration alone.
None of this complexity and character development takes away from the sheer fun of this series, and there's no dearth of that in Codex Born. How can you resist a series that begins with the premise that the magic of books isn't just a term, that certain individuals can pull mundane or magical objects out of a book? Libriomancers, or specifically Porters, go into battle armed with books. Need a lightsaber? Make sure you're carrying a copy of a Star Wars novel. Anticipating injuries? Don't forget a copy of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which gives you access to Lucy's magic cordial. The possibilities are endless, and endlessly entertaining, especially in Hines's creative hands. For the reader, the fun is not only in the action and adventure but in the delight of recognizing the many books Hines references during the novel, and the inventive uses to which he puts them.
I plan to re-read both books before Unbound comes out, hopefully sometime in August. I want to make sure that I go into book three with the first two sharp and clear in my mind. I have a feeling it will be just as wild a ride as the first two!
Codex Born picks up a few months after the end of Libriomancer, and like its predecessor, it's a marvelous adventure for book-lovers and fantasy-lovers alike. There's plenty of action, suspense, and intrigue in this novel, but it's a little slower-paced than Libriomancer, which leaves more room for reflection: on Isaac's part, on Lena's part, and on the reader's part.
This is not a bad thing. I needed a chance to catch my breath after Libriomancer, an opportunity to slow down and absorb more of the implications than I picked up on the first reading. I don't want to spoil the first book for you if you haven't read it (but why haven't you? Go check out my review, and run out and get a copy this instant!) So I'll just say that Libriomancer left me with a number of questions about what is really going on. I was sure that we didn't yet know all the truth about Gutenberg, the Porters, and the history of libriomancy, and there were hints -- more than hints -- about a larger problem to come.
In Codex Born, we do find out more about Gutenberg's past and the magical threat he's trying to ward against, but we're still left with questions -- lots of them. There's more ambiguity in this book, and many more shades of grey. (Not in that sense!) It's not at all clear who is on the side of the angels and who is a villain or even, at times, who is allied with whom.
Ambiguity and complex relationships are among Jim Hine's strengths as a writer. He writes all his characters with respect, making it possible to sympathize even with the villains at times. He's also particularly good at making the reader think and question their assumptions. He's developed the perfect vehicle for this in the character of Lena Greenwood. A dryad accidentally born into this world via an acorn pulled from an appallingly bad erotic SF/F novel (one which thankfully does not actually exist), Lena's nature is to adapt to become her lover's fantasy woman -- to change, quite literally, to please someone else. How does a sentient, intelligent person cope with that level of objectification and lack of agency? Lena's desire to maintain a separate, distinct identity leads her, at the end of Libriomancer, to a unique and not entirely comfortable solution. Hines doesn't shy away from the ramifications in Codex Born, leading to more than a few thought-provoking moments.
We also learn more about Lena's life before Libriomancer; her memories serve as the introduction to each chapter. Although the chapters themselves are narrated by Isaac, the inclusion of Lena's memories (the purpose of which becomes clear at the end of the novel) allows us to know and understand her far better than we could through his narration alone.
None of this complexity and character development takes away from the sheer fun of this series, and there's no dearth of that in Codex Born. How can you resist a series that begins with the premise that the magic of books isn't just a term, that certain individuals can pull mundane or magical objects out of a book? Libriomancers, or specifically Porters, go into battle armed with books. Need a lightsaber? Make sure you're carrying a copy of a Star Wars novel. Anticipating injuries? Don't forget a copy of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which gives you access to Lucy's magic cordial. The possibilities are endless, and endlessly entertaining, especially in Hines's creative hands. For the reader, the fun is not only in the action and adventure but in the delight of recognizing the many books Hines references during the novel, and the inventive uses to which he puts them.
I plan to re-read both books before Unbound comes out, hopefully sometime in August. I want to make sure that I go into book three with the first two sharp and clear in my mind. I have a feeling it will be just as wild a ride as the first two!